Clinical results 1-10 years after highly selective vagotomy in 306 patients with prepyloric and duodenal ulcer disease

Overall clinical results were assessed 1–10 years after routinely performed highly selective vagotomy (HSV) in 326 consecutive patients suffering duodenal and prepyloric ulcer disease, operated on by 37 surgeons of varying seniority at a district general hospital. Three hundred and six (94 per cent) patients were followed up. No mortality was recorded after 326 primary and 50 reoperative procedures. Postoperative complications were few and diminished during the study period. Persistent moderate to severe dumping was found in 2.3 per cent of the patients; slight and periodic, but in no case disabling, diarrhoea in 11 per cent and gastric retention in 2.1 per cent. The overall clinical ulcer recurrence rate was 13.8 per cent, with a tendency towards better results during the second 5 year period. Significant differences were found between individual surgeons and groups of surgeons. Recurrences tended to be located more proximally than the primary ulcer. Fifty reoperations were performed in forty patients for ulcer recurrence (twenty‐five), persistent ulcer‐like symptoms (twelve) and gastric retention (three). When all recurrences and reoperations were classified as failures the symptomatic assessment according to Visick showed 67 per cent of the patients in grades I–II and 26 per cent in grade IV but the corresponding figures from the patients' own classification including the results of reoperations were 79 per cent and 7 per cent. It is concluded that for the time being HSV is the method of choice for the elective surgical treatment of duodenal and prepyloric ulcer disease.